I show that standard grounding conditions contradict standard conditions for the identities of propositions.

Roughly put, explanatory circles — if any exist — would be propositions such that (i) each explains the next, and (ii) the last explains the first. In this paper, I give two arguments for the view that there are explanatory circles. The first argument appeals to general relativistic worlds in which time is circular. The second argument appeals to special science theories that describe feedback loops. In addition, I show that three standard arguments against explanatory circles are unsuccessful.

Presents for the first time in English, this 1967 text which came to be known as the 'bible' of a new movement in German philosophy of language, the 'Erlanger School.' This school of linguistic philosophy's treatment of language is rooted in the tradition of transcendentalism, and bases its system on Kant and his Continental successors. For the Erlanger School, 'language is not just a fact we discover...but a human cultural accomplishment whose construction reason can and should be controlled.' An influential (...) work which will be a valuable resource for students of philosophy, particularly philosophy of language and transcendentalism. (shrink)

A popular method for comparing the structures of mathematical objects, which I call the ‘subset approach’, says that X has more structure than Y just in case X’s automorphisms form a proper subset of Y’s automorphisms. This approach is attractive, in part, because it seems to yield the right results in some comparisons of spacetime structure. But as I show, it yields the wrong results in a number of other cases. The problem is that the subset approach compares structure using (...) automorphism sets. So a different approach is needed: structure should be compared using automorphism groups. (shrink)

Excerpt from Allgemeines Handwörterbuch der Philosophischen Wissenschaften Nebst Ihrer Literatur und Geschichte Nfcfl'oc bet %ilofopln'e an bet univafitdt an 269n mb sum: bet Ginil= 88(tbientloxcns. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in (...) the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

The centered Everett interpretation solves a problem that various approaches to quantum theory face. In this paper, I continue developing the theory underlying that solution. In particular, I defend the centered Everett interpretation against a few objections, and I provide additional motivation for some of its key features.

Der Untersuchung geht es um einen Systemvergleich zwischen Kant und Fichte anhand zentraler Lehrstucke ihrer theoretischen Philosophie. Die Philosophien Kants und Fichtes werden daruber hinaus gegenuber Rousseau, Jacobi, Schiller, Schelling und Hegel systematisch abgegrenzt.

Moral behaviour, based on social norms, is commonly regarded as a hallmark of humans. Hitherto, humans are perceived to be the only species possessing social norms and to engage in moral behaviour. There is anecdotal evidence suggesting their presence in chimpanzees, but systematic studies are lacking. Here, we examine the evolution of human social norms and their underlying psychological mechanisms. For this, we distinguish between conventions, cultural social norms and universal social norms. We aim at exploring whether chimpanzees possess evolutionary (...) precursors of universal social norms seen in humans. Chimpanzees exhibit important preconditions for their presence and enforcement: tolerant societies, well-developed social-cognitive skills and empathetic competence. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for recognizing different functional levels of social norms and distinguish them from mere statistical behavioural regularities. Quasi social norms are found where animals behave functionally moral without having moral emotions. In proto social norms, moral emotions might be present but cannot be collectivized due to the absence of a uniquely human psychological trait, i.e. shared intentionality. Human social norms, whether they are universal or cultural, involve moral emotions and are collectivized. We will discuss behaviours in chimpanzees that represent potential evolutionary precursors of human universal social norms, with special focus on social interactions involving infants. We argue that chimpanzee infants occupy a special status within their communities and propose that tolerance towards them might represent a proto social norm. Finally, we discuss possible ways to test this theoretical framework. (shrink)

Excerpt from Die Lehre vom Gewissen: Ein Beitrag zur Ethik Der nachfolgenden Schrift liegt ein gleichnamiger Vortrag zum Grunde, welchen ich am Anfange des vergangenen Jahres in Darmstadt und einige Monate spater auch in Giessen vor einer grosseren Versammlung gehalten habe. Der Gegenstand hat mich, seit ich mich selbstandig mit der Ethik beschaitige, lebhaft angezogen; ich entschloss mich sogleich zu einer grundlicheren Bearbeitung, und sie wurde fruher zu Stande gekommen sein, hatte ich nicht bald darauf Giessen verlassen, und ware ich (...) nicht wahrend des ersten Jahres meines Heidelberger Lebens fast ausschliesslich auf akademische Thatigkeit hingewiesen worden. Wie die Abhandlung jetzt vorliegt, hat sie mit dem ersten Entwurf nichts gemein als die Ansicht so wie einige Reste rhetorischer Sprache, welche ich nicht habe tilgen wollen. Das erorterte Thema hat im Laufe der beiden letzten Decennien aus mancherlei Ursachen das wissenschaftliche Nachdenken der Theologen und Philosophen in erhohtem Grade auf sich gelenkt. Von allgemeineren systematischen Werken abgesehen sind ihm auch mehrere monographische Untersuchungen gewidmet worden. Meine Schrift tritt daher in eine ziemlich angewachsene Reihe anderer, welche ebenso ungleich an Auffassung wie an Umfang die Tiefe des Problems aufs Neue vor Augen stellen, aber auch zu wiederholtem Bin gehen auf dessen Schwierigkeit anzufeuern geeignet sind. Das ausfuhrlichste Werk ist: Die Lehre von dem Gewissen, dargestellt von Dr. Rudolph Hofmann, Leipzig 1866; auf dieses ist denn auch im Folgenden am Meisten Rucksicht genommen worden. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.". (shrink)

1. Bd. Wesen, Aufstieg, und Verfall der philosophischen Theologie -- 2. Bd. Abgrenzung und Grundlegung.

It’s not clear what supervaluationists should say about propositional content. Does a vague sentence, e.g., ‘Harry is bald’, express one proposition, or a barrage of propositions, or none at all? Or is the matter indeterminate? The supervaluationist canon is not decisive on the issue; authoritative passages can be cited in favor of each of the proposals just mentioned. Furthermore, some detractors have argued that supervaluationism is incapable of providing any coherent account of propositional content. This paper considers each of the (...) proposals for how many propositions are expressed by a vague sentence: none, some, all, or it’s indeterminate. Most of these proposals turn out to be unworkable in the metalanguage. I conclude that orthodox supervaluationists—those who identify truth with supertruth—must either relax the standard requirement that propositions be bivalent, or else alter the standard relation between sentences and propositions in which a sentence inherits its truth-conditions from the proposition it expresses. The best option going forward for the orthodox supervaluationist is perhaps the most surprising—amend the requirement that propositions be bivalent. I argue that propositions having supervaluational truth-conditions are best suited to fill the propositional roles in the semantic theory of a vague language. These propositions admit of truth-value gaps, and gappy propositions are controversial, but I argue that they earn their keep. (shrink)

El problema ecológico no es nuevo, ha acompañado toda la historia reciente de la humanidad. Sin embargo, lo que es nuevo es el alcance que ha tenido desde la modernización tecnológica e industrial de los siglos XIX y XX y que, si los indicios y la información no son engañosos, amenaza con convertirse en un desastre para toda la humanidad en el siglo XXI. El informe de la ONU de la Conferencia sobre el Cambio Climático, del año 2007, y recientemente (...) el desastre nuclear de Fukushima aportan evidencias en esta dirección. ¿Cómo se llegó a esa problemática, cómo evolucionó el saber al respecto y cómo se deja justificar convincentemente la actuación humana y social? ¿Qué puede hacer un individuo para proyectar una vida más sostenible? ¿Qué es el Antropoceno? ¿Es posible construir una sociedad ecológica y solidaria? Estas y otras preguntas se abordan desde la reflexión filosófica en el presente artículo. (shrink)

It is shown that-at least in contemporary physics-the single measuring results are completely irrelevant w.r.t. testing a metric law. As a consequence, laws are neither gained by induction nor rejected by falsification. Even statistical generalizations of measuring values, when-in the sense of some philosophers-falsifying laws are not always regarded as falsifying instances by physicists.

Free agency can be explained causally if the causal approach does not imply reductionism. A non-reductionist account of action is possible along the lines of Davidsonian 'anomalous monism'. Mental events, i.e. prepositional attitudes activated by indexical beliefs, are the causes of actions. Free agency presupposes a special type of causes to be analysed as rational causes allowing human agents to be self-determinant, autonomous agents in Kantian terms. An action is free if it has rational causes not to be ruled out (...) by natural causes. With causes of actions being activated prepositional attitudes their rationality is analysed in terms of the coherence of prepositional attitudes. Principles of rational choice are not the basic ingredients of free i.e. rational action but have to conform to the prepositional attitudes of the human agent. (shrink)